by Odd Rogne
« I headed the Norwegian delegation on bila-
extended comments on an issue (not simply
teral cooperation in the Arctic between Norway
saying ‘cheers’). It means that one has to do some
and the USSR. The State Committee on Science
creative thinking, and when there are more than
and Technology (GKNT) was the Soviet coun-
twenty Russians and only three Norwegians at
terpart. GKNT was an inter-ministerial body and
the table, I had to do more creative thinking than
close to the Kremlin administration. In addition
drinking. In particular, as leader of the Norwegian
to bilateral cooperation, related issues could be
delegation, most of the toast speeches fell to me
discussed. I used this opportunity to inform about
on the Norwegian side.
the thinking at and after the San Diego meeting
as well as the preparation for the Oslo meeting.
After several toasts, one tends to get even more
The response by the Foreign Affairs member
creative. I came to think of the Summit meetings
on GKNT was that the Soviet policy allowed for
between the presidents of USA and the USSR,
bilateral cooperation only. If one had taken that
and actually that this circumarctic cooperation we
njet for an answer, IASC would have died right
had discussed earlier that day should be on their
there. However, I noticed positive body language
agenda. “What an excellent idea” was the Russian
by some members of GKNT when I argued the
toast answer, “and we can see to it that it is
benefits of the USSR joining the IASC discussions.
included in the preparations on our side. Howe-
My oral presentation was followed up by sending
ver, we have no proper contact on the US side.”
IASC material to the Embassy (Minutes from the
My answer to that was that I could easily phone
Oslo meeting), the Director of GKNT and personal
or otherwise inform the Polar Advisor in the US
contacts in good positions. I have been informally
State Department, whom I had met earlier, and
told that this promotion work actually was suc-
whom I believed could help on the US side.
cessful. The material found its way to President
Gorbachev´s speech writer and a short paragraph
If anyone should read the communique from the
was used in the President´s speech in Murmansk
Reykjavik Summit Meeting (between Reagan and
1 October 1987. The speech mentions the “need
Gorbachev), they will discover that circumarctic
to coordinate research in the Arctic” and “setting
cooperation is in there.
up a joint Arctic scientific council.”
Lesson learned: You never know what a toast in
Our next meeting in Moscow on the bilateral
Russia can lead to!
agreement was a pleasant surprise: On the Soviet
side, they were now ready to agree on all points
For those interested in text analysis, you will
of the bilateral agreement in less than a day, and
discover that the sentences used by Gorbachev in
to use most of the remaining time to follow up
his Murmansk speech are nearly identical to those
discussions on the Gorbachev speech in Mur-
in the early IASC papers. The same goes for the
mansk. It was an excellent opportunity to feed
Summit Meeting text, except that ‘cooperation
GKNT with arguments and information on the
between indigenous peoples’ was added. »
needs for and potential benefits of joining the
IASC discussions. These discussions were very
positive and I was assured that the USSR would
be well represented at the next meeting (in
Stockholm).
The day ended with a splendid Russian dinner. As
usual at these dinners, there are many toasts and
a tradition of making small speeches or offering
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01 Development
06 Appendices of IASC